More on being in the now

I've been using the stuff I learned from Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth to help with chronic pain. His advice does work. Interestingly, being in the now (as he keeps saying to do) can put a person through all the stages of grief (from denial to acceptance). I went through such when taking a walk. Instead of avoiding my pain by daydreaming, which I usually do, I persisted in confronting the now while not judging what happened. Even when I became angry that I had to do this, I accepted that I was angry and did not judge the feeling of anger. A few minutes later, a greater portion of my pain at the time vanished. I enjoyed the walk, mostly in the now and without a lot of mental gear in place to avoid my pain. The anger vanished as well, btw. It was my ego (what Tolle calls the ego, anyhow) acting up and getting in my way of being in the now. Lovely experiment, but I need to put it into practice more often. I've been semi-successful, because the daydreaming has become something of an addictive practice over the years. I need to dream to write, but I also want to enjoy my actual life when I'm away from the computer. There is life beyond the computer. The computer, writing: to some degree, both were a means to avoid pain . I've noticed for years now that I wasn't really "there" with my family and kids. The last few months, I'm more there. Means less time spent on the computer, but it also means I may actually improve my health at last. The facts as they stand now: my blood pressure has, indeed, lowered, though my pulse is still too rapid; because I'm being in the now with my life, I don't have a pile of laundry hiding what should be an upstairs sofa (and believe it or not, that pile of laundry adds to my stress the longer it stays present); I've spent more time with my husband, even doing things like helping him when he gets the scrap wood (skids and crates) for next winter's firewood from a local industry . Truthfully, I'm not much use to him when it comes to the physical labour. I hold the skids up in the trailer while he loads them, or I drag the less heavy stuff closer, sometimes bang a sledgehammer on bigger constructions to break them apart (my idea of weightlifting for health--dislocate my shoulder, give myself more neck pain, and put myself out of breath in five swings, lol.) Mostly I'm there for company, to be there now with him. It sounds strange, maybe, to add to the pain in my neck through labour, but one of the things I have to do is stay mobile and stay strong to keep my bones from worsening, which means I cannot avoid pain. I laugh off the extra, and that I'm happy being with my husband helps me stay in equilibrium. When I lose that equilibrium, I cry like you wouldn't believe. The Tolle book has helped me keep that equilibrium better. I like my husband, you know. Been married what? Almost fifteen years. I really like him. He's good company and I've been missing it, off in daydream land with a story instead of living in the world. Don't get me wrong. I intend to continue writing, but I intend to live, really live, as well. My health demands it, in more ways than the physical. So yes, I recommend the Tolle book to all of you. It's worth a read. There is no mystery to what he is saying. There's no sitting on a mountain like a holy hermit, or starving yourself to achieve some sort of spiritual enlightenment through ascetism. It's all very simple. Just be in the now.